Category — Amazon Kindle

A few days ago my web site was mentioned in the Amazon Author Central newsletter as an example of Amazon’s new Kindle for the Web feature in action.

Here’s what it looks like on my web site (or you can just click the “Chapter One” link above):

By pasting a text string supplied by Amazon, I can give visitors a free sample of my book without them having to download anything.

Naturally, after Amazon mentioned my web site, traffic took off — and I also received a number of questions about how I set this all up.

So here’s a brief overview of how I did it.

First of all, you need to have BOTH a physical copy of your book on Amazon as well as a Kindle edition.

Next, look at the Amazon page of your physical book. You should see the following button on the right side of the page:

Click the “Read first chapter FREE” button and you’ll see your Kindle edition of your book. I’ve included an excerpt of my book below:

On the right side of this page is an “Embed” button. Select it and you’ll see this:

All you need to do to is copy and past the text string into a web page.

I had created a “Chapter One” web page that included only a header; below this I pasted the text string. I also adjusted the size so that the book would fit within my established page layout. You can add your Amazon Associate’s tag if you want to get a referral fee for everyone who purchases a book.

I hope this helps. If you have more questions, let me know.

To be an indie author is to be (at varying times) an editor, a designer, a production manager, and a publicist.

It’s not easy being an expert at so many things. So I devote a fair amount of my time learning from the experts. Fortunately, many of them publish blogs.

And by experts I’m not just referring to other indie authors, but also to industry consultants, agents, and eBook production geeks.

Here are the blogs that I follow:

Publishing industry Insights

• The Shatzkin Files: Mike Shatzkin is an industry consultant and provides an insider’s view of an industry in chaos. One recent post provide excellent details on author royalties on eBooks vs. trade books.
• Self-publishing 2.0 by Foner Books Another long-time publishing expert opines on the future of the industry. About four posts a month and I am sure to read every one.
• Kindle Nation by Stephen Windwalker: Steve publishes a weekly newsletter on the state of the Kindle market. He covers eBook pricing trends, movers and shakers — pretty much everything Kindle related. He also publishes newsletters that can help authors (like me) promote their works.
• The Book Deal: Alan Rinzler is a longtime industry expert and this post of his is particularly inspiring.

India author blogs

• A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Konrath: Joe is one of the success stories of the self-publishing movement. He announced this week that he’s sold more than 100,000 eBooks since he transitioned from print publishing to electronic.
• Indie Reader by Zoe Winters: Zoe doesn’t share the granular. But what I like best about her blog is the

Self-publication production blogs

• Pigs, Gourds, and Wikis by Liz Castro: Liz is author of ePub to the Point — a book I recommend highly. Her blog is important for keeping up on the latest ePub developments.
• Threepress Consulting: This blog is not for the tech-averse, but it’s definitely worth reading if you’re planning to get knee-deep in ePub. These folks do this for a living.

Agent blogs (Just because you may not have an agent, doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them)

• Pub Rants: Kristin provides nuggets of wisdom about query letters, publishing houses, and the industry in general.
• Nathan Bradford’s blog: Nathan is not just an agent but also a writer. His passion for publishing is reason enough to follow his blog.

I’d be curious to know what blogs are missing from this list. If you have anything to add, please contact me.

Lately I’ve received a number of questions from fellow writers about the self-publishing process.

While I don’t consider myself an expert, I’m happy to share the ups and downs of my journey. Just keep in mind that the list below is already a few steps too long given recent changes in the industry.

Here is a high-level view of the production process and software used (I used a Mac throughout):

1. Wrote and edited the book in Microsoft Word
2. Designed the print version of the book in Adobe InDesign CS5*
3. Designed the cover of the book in Adobe Illustrator CS5
4. Exported the book as an ePub file
5. Exported the cover as a JPG file, sized so it would display well in ereaders
6. Modified the ePub file using the free software product Sigil
7. Converted the ePub file to Mobi using Calibre, another free software product**
8. Uploaded the Mobi file to the Amazon Kindle store

* I always intended to produce both an ebook and print book. This decision drove me to splurge on Adobe InDesign and Illustrator. I used InDesign for the body of the book, but I could have gotten by perfectly well with plain ol’ Microsoft Word — or, better yet, Apple Pages (which now supports ePub export). But I also wanted a nice-looking cover, which is where Illustrator fits in. Illustrator is an excellent tool for manipulating type and images.

My general advice for writers is to avoid the Adobe Creative Suite. These tools are not cheap and the learning curve can be steep. Though I’ve used Adobe software for years, I’m not thrilled with this latest version of the software suite (perhaps a topic for a future post).

If all you intend to produce is an ebook, you should skip Adobe altogether. In fact, you could get by using all free software.

That said,  I’m very intrigued by Pages‘ support for ePub export.

** I exported an ePub file and then converted to Mobi. I did this because I intended to upload the book to the Apple iBookstore, which only supports ePub. When I began working with the Kindle store, it did not support ePub files, but now it does. So you could skip the entire Mobi file creation stage.

PS: If you would like more details about my production journey — and the many potholes along the way — let me know via the contact form. I’m happy to share more.

So I read via Foner Books that Publisher’s Weekly wants to charge $149 for us self-published writers to get a read. Not a review, mind you, just a read. If we’re lucky we’ll get a review.

I’ve already ranted about how PW just doesn’t “get” us self-publishers. But now, sadly, PW wants to make a few quick bucks off of us as well. Through its actions, PW is  treating self-published writers as second class citizens.

Will Publisher’s Weekly charge Seth Godin $149 for his next book?

That’s right, Seth Godin is now joining the ranks of us indie writers.

I read via Mike Shatzkin that Seth Godin is giving up on publishers altogether. This is huge news for publishers because he’s the type of writer they covet — someone who cranks out books with regularity and cultivates a large audience of eager readers. This development has to make publishers more than a little nervous, and it should. Publishers can and do add massive value to an author’s work, but their perceived value has been slipping, and, to some extent, with good cause. As Mike noted, for years publishers have filtered out writers who didn’t have a “platform.” In other words, they only wanted to publish writers who already had built-in audiences. But any author who has built up an audience knows he or she can now publish directly to that audience, and this is where publishers are in trouble. While I understand why publishers want authors with platforms, the irony is that it is the publishers themselves who suddenly lack “platforms.”  I don’t think readers think “I’m in the mood for a new Knopf novel.”

Readers are loyal to authors, not imprints.

And with digital delivery, authors can connect with readers in an instant.

I read in the Wall Street Journal that 40% of owners of ereaders read a lot more than they did before owning an ereader. And Forrester Research estimates that by the end of September roughly 11 million Americans will own at lease one ereader. Not surprisingly, Amazon says the Kindle 3, now shipping, is its fastest-selling Kindle yet.

Now, this is very good news for us self-publishers. Most of my books are selling via Kindle.

J.A. Konrath, who has a number of books on both the Kindle and iPad, says that Kindle books are outselling iPad books by a ratio of 60:1. I’m seeing a ratio of 80:1. For me, the reason is simple: Amazon makes it easy to get discovered by readers. The iBookstore does not.

So that’s it for now. The latest news in another crazy week in self-publishing.

Yesterday, The Tourist Trail was featured on Kindle Nation.

Kindle Nation is a newsletter/web site published by Steve Windwalker, who is an expert on the Kindle ecosystem — from self-publishing to pricing to sales numbers. If you’re an author or reader, his newsletters are a must read.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and my book was #1 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers list.

I know these rankings are one of those things that only authors really care about — but it’s a great feeling nonetheless. It means that people are discovering the book.

This has been quite a journey.

A year ago, when my agent was sending the book to publishers, the sentiment was that The Tourist Trail was a great book but that the editors didn’t think there was an audience for it. And after we tried the last publisher, I had my doubts as well (many doubts).

As it turns out, there is quite an audience for The Tourist Trail, which I’ve discovered thanks to Kindle Nation.  I can’t help but view Steve Windwalker as the Oprah of the Kindle set.

If you’re a reader, check out Kindle Nation. The email subscription is free and the Kindle subscription is darn near free.

If you’re a writer and you want to be featured in Kindle Nation, there is a modest reading fee. But if you do make the cut, it’s well worth it.